Author's note: I am so sorry for the long hiatus, but after much pushing I finally kicked out Chapter 13! Though, there are a few things I'd like to say about it… one, I personally don't think it's up to my usual… best. I'm still not happy with it after much rewriting, but this made the most sense as far as what the future holds. Two, I am not an expert on drugs, lol! I did do some research and after much debate the drug featured later on in the chapter is the one I decided to use. It has the effects I was looking for and it worked. So, there may be some issues with that, and I apologize, but I was working with what I knew. Three… the action is coming. It starts the next chapter and continues for a few. But that's all I'm gonna say before I give it away! Other than that… here is chapter 13. I really hope you like it!

…………

Catherine stared down at the folder in her lap for what seemed like the hundredth time. She knew what the folder held by heart. Photos of a dead girl that held an all too familiar face, the toxicology results from blood that had been on ice for a year, and small packet of interviews from family members and friends.

And one suspect. Matthew Charbonneau.

He was tall, with dark hair. Very normal. Very forgettable. A plain man with only a speeding ticket on his record. The last person to see the dead girl alive. A man who had been let go.

The fasten seatbelt light went on, and a smooth feminine voice sounded over the loudspeaker, "Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts as we are about to land in beautiful Las Vegas. We hope your flight was a good one, and you enjoy your stay Vegas. Thank you for flying with us!"

Catherine tucked the folder away and fastened her seatbelt. She hoped she wasn't too late.

…………

He was holding her tightly outside the door when Brass and a squad car finally arrived. Sara buried her head in Grissom's shoulder as he pointed to the envelope. Warrick was only a few steps behind Brass as he jogged up the stairs to meet the couple.

"We haven't touched it. Haven't even gone inside. We didn't want to disturb anything."

Warrick set down his kit and silently began to process the envelope, dusting it for prints. His eyes only wandered once to Sara Sidle's shaking form. She was so much thinner than he ever remembered, and her shoulder length hair was pulled back in a messy, crooked ponytail. He looked away with a frown, and reached for a tape lifter. There was one print.

"Why don't the two of you go inside. He may still be around. I'll set some guys outside to keep an eye out while we talk," said Brass, opening the door, motioning to two uniforms to keep watch.

Grissom ushered Sara through the open door. Before he followed, Brass leaned down to whisper to Warrick, "Keep an eye out. If you see anything, holler in at me."

Warrick nodded as he pulled out a swap and started running it over the flap.

When he got inside, Brass found Grissom sitting alone in the living room. He frowned and Grissom shrugged.

"She wanted to go get changed. Said she was cold."

Brass nodded and took a seat across from his old friend. He looked him over. His hair was messy, his skin looking clammy. He watched as Grissom swept a shaky hand over tired eyes. He wasn't looking good, he noted, as Grissom sat back on the couch.

"He knows where I live, Jim. He knows she's here, he probably followed us to the lab. She's not safe. She's not…," but Brass stopped him.

"She is safe, and she's better off with you then if you would have stayed in Denver. Look, we're going to catch this bastard. You don't mess with one of our own and expect to get away with it."

Grissom huffed and closed his eyes, "I can't lose her again."

"And you won't."

Both men looked up when they heard the front door open. Warrick walked in, envelope in one hand, his kit in the other.

"Griss, you wanna open this?"

Warrick handed Grissom the envelope, and he took it tentatively, flipping it in his hands. He looked to Brass, then to Warrick before flipping it open.

"What does it say?" Brass asked.

"The tip of the iceberg. He underlined tip," Grissom mumbled. He opened the envelope wider, squinting his eyes.

Then he smirked.

"Ah, the tip," he said, pulling out a slender piece of metal. The tip of a hypodermic needle.

"I'll run it to the lab, have it tested for blood, and whatever went through it," said Warrick. Grissom dropped the tip back in and handed him the envelope.

"Compare it to anything you find in the other envelope. Chances are this is what he's using to prove the girl from the dumpster and Sara are related."

Warrick nodded and headed out the door. Brass turned to Grissom.

"What kind of game is he playing?" he wondered out loud.

"One he thinks…," but Grissom didn't get to finish.

A scream sounded from the bedroom, followed by a loud crash.

The two men jumped up, Brass drawing his gun and following Grissom down the hallway into the bedroom. Throwing open the door, Grissom ran to Sara, who was kneeling on the floor in front of the window. Brass looked around for any sign of someone else. But there was no one, just the three of them.

"Sara, God, what happened?" breathed Grissom.

"He's … outside. Right outside the window. God, he knows… he knows…," she sobbed.

Brass ran out of the bedroom. From the broken window they could hear him shouting orders to the cops posted outside. The sound of footsteps running down the stairs could barely be heard over Sara's gut wrenching sobs.

"I threw… I tried to nail him… he got away… God, he got away!"

Grissom wrapped his arms around her, bringing a hand to her hair and stroking it gently. His eyes focused on their shattered reflections in the mirror. They weren't safe anymore.

…………

Hodges finished with the first needle tip and the Denver girl's blood sample as Warrick arrived with the envelope.

"I have to say, this is a first for me," he said, looking up.

"What is?" asked Warrick.

"Well, it made sense when I found traces of GHB in the blood sample you gave me. Maybe drinks was how your suspect lured the victim. But when I found traces of GHB in the needle… I thought it was a drug that was slipped into drinks, not injected into people."

"It usually is," mumbled Warrick, looking at the results and shaking his head, "What about Sara's blood results?"

Three sharp beeps went off and Hodges smiled, "Let me see."

He picked the piece of paper up from the printer and grinned, "GHB found in Sara's blood."

Warrick nodded, "Run this needle tip as well, then check both needles for blood samples."

"You're the boss."

Warrick walked into the break room and smiled when he saw Catherine pouring a cup of coffee, "Good to have you back, Cath."

She turned around a gave him a smile, "Aw, miss me?" she looked at the folder in his hands, "What have you got there?"

"Results from needle one, victim one and Sara. All tested positive for traces of GHB."

Catherine sat down next to him and looked at the results, "GHB? The date rape drug? Why would he inject GHB? Why not use something else?"

"Maybe that's all he had left over from the first victim. I'm thinking that he slipped the GHB to the Denver victim, a drink maybe to lure her. Maybe he didn't use it all, and used what he had left over on the girl found in the dumpster and Sara," Warrick paused when his cell phone rang.

Catherine looked over the results. It was dangerous enough to have creeps slipping the dangerous drug into stranger's drinks at bars and clubs, but knowing there was a criminal kidnapping and injecting victims with it sent a shiver down her spine. She looked up when she heard Warrick close his phone.

"What's up?" she asked.

"We have a problem. We need to get to Grissom's."

Catherine frowned, "Well, what's going on?"

"He was there. That bastard was standing right outside the window. They need us to process. We have to catch this guy."

TBC